WHAT will you be doing this Christmas? Looking forward to a family reunion? Facing a mountain of leftover turkey sandwiches? Well, things will be a little different for those of us out in Iraq, serving with The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards.
I am a Lieutenant with the Scots DG, whose Home Headquarters are at Edinburgh Castle. Currently, though, 300 soldiers of the Scots DG are part of a Battlegroup based at Camp Abu Naji, a few miles south of Al Amarah, a powder-keg city close to the Iranian border in the south-east of Iraq.
I am a tank commander and work with a troop of soldiers on Challenger 2 main battle tanks to aid security in the region and act as a deterrent to let other soldiers go about their jobs with less fear of being attacked.
On Christmas Day, as all of you back in Edinburgh are settling down to your turkey lunch, the officers of the Scots DG will be scanning the area around camp on guard duty in order to give the soldiers the day off.
There will still be patrols out in Al Amarah to stop the movement of weapons and deter mortar attacks in this far-flung corner of the desert we have made home for six months. I will serve up roast turkey to my soldiers in the cookhouse with not a spoonful of brandy butter or a tipple in sight as our time here is dry.
The chaplain will hold a church service and we'll sing carols too. It will be a far cry from normal as we try to mark out the day with a taste of home to remind us all what time of year it is out here, far from family and friends. For us, the best present this year will be not getting attacked by rockets on Christmas Day. The threat is constant but we just get on with our work as normal.
He was on top of a shipping container used for storage, trying to fix its door when the rocket whizzed past him. After a while, you just accept the attacks and hope that when they happen no-one gets injured.
It's frustrating that we can't do more to find these people and catch them in the act, but they will often set up an attack to launch on a timer and run away so they are nowhere near it when it fires.
Our day-to-day work involves patrolling, at all hours, the towns in the Battlegroup's area of responsibility, finding out information and stopping the terrorist forces from being able to operate.
With all their kit and equipment too, there often isn't room for much else - however, a DVD player with a box set of Still Game seems to be the one essential from home that many of the troops here cherish!
At least the temperatures here are much cooler than in the sweltering Iraqi summer - although it was still boiling when we arrived in October. Even drinking bottles of frozen water doesn't help much.
This heat combined with the fine layer of dust which ends up covering everything means there is little respite from the hostile conditions. At night the temperature can plummet by 25 degrees, which makes living out here difficult.
You might think Edinburgh feels cold and windy and you'd rather be somewhere else at this time of year. As you sit down to watch the Queen's speech with a mulled wine and a mince pie spare a thought for us out here. Being at home in Edinburgh, even when it's cold, would be a great Christmas present.
I, and all the soldiers out here in Iraq, and in particular the men of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards wish you all a Merry Christmas and the happiest of Hogmanays. Have a drink for us!
This is cache, read story here
